Sword in the Moon (2003) (Korean)

May 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

This grand-scale martial arts fairy tale takes place in Korea in the 17th century. Two brothers work together as guards of their country’s most powerful leaders. But one day the brothers become accidentally separated. When one starts working for the other side, he is instructed to kill his own brother, who still works as a guard for the Korean government

Release Date:2003
Directed:Ui-seok Kim
Genre:Action / Drama / Adventure
Cast:Choi Min-su, Jo Jae-hyeon,Kim Bo-gyeong
Runtime:100 min
Also Known As:Cheongpung myeongwol
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
Subtitles:Eng Subs
IMDb link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370402/

Filed Under: Action, Korean Movies

Happy Birthday (Hong Kong) 2007

May 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

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Review from IMDb;
It’s a long heard story that the first woman Eve are made of a rib of the first man Adam so that the matches of ribs and Adams are going on and on for centuries outside Eden on earth. Happiness is almost guaranteed if finding the right rib; and the hell of encounters and breakups would keep haunting over if wrong matches are made. People come and go. Some do stay for a while but will leave anyway in the end, except the one and only individual.

However, will happiness finally arrive if you are lucky enough to meet your right rib or Adam? Take Xiao Mi and Xiao Nan in the movie Happy Birthday as an example. We’re not suppose to blame Xiao Mi for missing her really Mr. Right. She did nothing wrong. She was just not sure, like you, like me, like everyone of the world. True love requires trust, but what if trust turns out to be a mistake. It’s an eternal regret that Xiao Mi lost Xiao Nan forever. She’d better be with him in all his limited journey of life and as confident as Xiao Nan that she’s the rib of his. But…but…but what if he’s wrong? What if they spent some time together and then quarrels came and ended up in a permanent breakup? The king in Cinderella story said when true love came, you’d know it immediately even when you touched her hand for the very first time. Nothing stops true love. Things always come this way in fairy tales. How excellent the life will be if reality comes also this way.

It is not difficult to find a pair of arms for temporary consolation. But it is extremely a tough job to find a warm hand, leading you to his or her heart and making you stay there for now and for good. Uncertainty keeps entangling and torturing Only one thing is affirmed. That is when the rib breaks, you do hurt.

Directed: Jingle Ma
Genre: Romance
Cast: Louis Koo, Rene Liu, Bowie Tsang, Lawrence Chou.
Runtime:
Also Known As: Sun yat fai lok
Country: China / Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Subtitles: English/Chinese subs.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923923/

Filed Under: Drama, Hong Kong Movies, Movies, Romance

9 Souls (2003) (Japanese)

May 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment



Review: (Taken from IMDB)
***Caution: May or may not contain spoilers.***

To be totally honest I wasn’t expecting much at all going into 9 Souls even after reading heap upon heap of praise plied upon it but to say I was surprised would be a major understatement, in short I was totally blown away.

The basic plot is as simple as they come, nine prison inmates ranging from a drug pusher all the way up to multiple murderer’s escape from prison and go in search of a secret stash presumed to be forged money hidden by a tenth inmate who cracked and was dragged away by guards shortly before their escape but it’s the direction that director Toshiaki Toyoda takes this simple story that is so brilliant and original perfectly blending drama, comedy and violence creating a truly one of kind movie that deserve’s to be seen not only fans of Asian cinema but cinema in general.

Superbly acted, emotional, funny, violent and at times very surreal this is a movie has it all.

Year Released: 2003
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda
Writer:Toshiaki Toyoda
Genre: Drama
Cast: Kôji Chihara, Yoshio Harada, Jun Inoue, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Mame Yamada
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English hardsubbed.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370244/

(7.6 rating out of 10!!)

Filed Under: Drama, Japanese Movies

Some (2004) (Korean)

May 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

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IMDb review:
It seems that with Martin Scorcese remaking the HK blockbuster Infernal Affairs, we definitely know where the new Hollywood is. Asian directors continue to produce great movies that put the garbage coming out of the states to shame. Some is one such movie. Having gone into it expecting a typical cop drama I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s hard to describe the plot in this movie without spoilers, since the plot kind of unfolds with every twist and turn. We first meet Kang Seong-ju, a young detective on the trail of a gang of loosely organized members who have gotten in way over their heads. It’s not long before he encounters Seo Yu-jin, a charming news reporter who seems to hold the key to the mystery at hand. As Kang attempts to unravel the the clues and track down a mysterious name, Yu-jin is haunted by deja vu. She is sure that the two have met before, and begins to experience visions.

The story was pretty well written. Not too over the top, and the twists were not so confusing as many directors try to do. The thing that really made this movie work was that it took care not to lean too much into one genre that it became stereotypical. IMDb lists it as an Action / Crime / Mystery movie and certainly it contains just the right portions of all those. They even threw in just a touch of Sci -Fi to make it that much more interesting. All together, this is a movie cocktail guaranteed to please.

Release Date: 2004
Director:Yoon-Hyun Chang
Writers:Eun-Jeong Kim
Eun-shil Kim
Genre:Action / Crime / Mystery
Cast: Soo Go, Ji-hyo Song, Dong-kyu Lee, Shin-il Kang
Runtime:118 min
Country:South Korea
Language:Korean
Subtitles: English hardsubbed
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424448/

(6.1 rating out of 10)

Filed Under: Action, Korean Movies

Typhoon (2005)(Korean)

May 7, 2007 by 1 Comment

Review (taken from IMDB)
***Caution May or May not contain spoilers.***

Many of the tearjerkers and romantic dramas by Korean film-makers have definitely been appealing to many Asian movie fans. Winter Sonata, Autumn Fairy Tale, Lovers in Paris, First Kiss, just to name a few. Koran actors and actresses appeared in those movies have enthusiastically been accepted in Japan, Hongkong, China, Singapore and in other Asian countries. Jiwoo Choi, Yongjun Bae, Hyegyo Song, Bin Won, Jeongeun Kim, Shinyang Park, Jaewook Ahn, Byunghun Lee are such celebrities, or rather, idols in those countries.

Bun it’s quite a different story in the U.S., where ‘a man carrying a big stick’ is respected. They don’t go much for some ticklish romantic episodes played by Asianperformers.

Typhoon is an answer to this situation. It has daring hoopla, alertness, conspiracy,betrayal, red-blooded revenge and heartbreaking family tragedy stemming from the tragedy of divided two Koreas. For Dongkun Jang, a North Korean escapee as a child, politics has no meaning at all. His parents were killed when his family were escaping from North Korea to South Korea seeking freedom, by way of China. He and his sister survived the massacre by the North Koreans, but separated—separated for 20 years. All he wants is to find his sister and save her from the hand of North Korean and Chinese ‘bandits’. Any means justifies the end for him. He would gladly steal secret weapon from South Korea and the U.S. to trade his sister with it.

His wrath and fury was well and timely expressed in his retort to his opponent: “Comrade, have you ever eaten human flesh?” Jungjae Lee, South Korean navy officer, has a mission to stop him and retrieve the weapon from his hand. Inevitably, the two has the fate to tackle with each other. But Jungjae Lee feels for him and says: “Tonight we will fight to the death, but in another life I would have liked to have been his friend.” All the emotions and feelings are melted down to the electrifying scene when Dongkun Jang finally meets his sister and shouts: “(20 years ago) Didn’t I tell you to just stay where you were!” Tight and tighter embraces follow.

Fast change of sequences, realistic plot, almost zero-defect photography, compact movements of actors, especially those by Dongkun Jang and Jungjae Lee. Hey, you both are great, Jang and Lee! Not many goofs could be found in this film.

Year Released: 2005
Director Kyung-Taek Kwak
Writer:Kyung-Taek Kwak
Genre: Action / Drama / Thriller
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Also known as: Taepung
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
Subtitles: English hardsubbed.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475750/

Filed Under: Drama, Korean Movies

My Brother (2004) (Korean)

May 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Sung-hyun (elder brother) was born with a hare-lip, a condition of incomplete development on the roof of the mouth. The father threw baby Sung-hyun away out of embarrassment but the mother recovered the baby back, determined to keep the child. Soon, the father died from illness and mother is pregnant again with Jong-hyun (younger brother). Single handedly, she raised the two children by herself with her debt collecting business…

Year Released: 2004
Directed By: Kwon-tae Ahn
Writer:Kwon-tae Ahn
Genre: Drama
Cast: Ha-kyun Shin, Bin Won, Hae-suk Kim, Bo-young Lee, Tae-wook Kim
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Also known as: Uri Hyeong (My Brother)
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423461/

(7.2 rating out of 10)

Filed Under: Drama, Korean Movies